Devendra Fadnavis clears air on special powers to bureaucrats; tears into opposition

Taking on the opposition, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared the air on the criticism over special powers being given to bureaucrats. Speaking to the media on Sunday, August 7, he revealed that the Secretaries have been empowered to conduct hearings of quasi-judicial matters. Maintaining that this is not a new phenomenon, he asserted that decisions will be taken only by the elected representatives of the people. The opposition had alleged that the administration has been delegated entirely to bureaucrats in the absence of Ministers.

Devendra Fadnavis remarked, "When some people spout dialogues for the sake of politics, such things are said. These powers have been given only to hear quasi-judicial matters. Before this, many secretaries had this power in the last government. In our government also, many Ministers had given these powers to the Secretaries. Not just in Maharashtra, this custom prevails in the country. No other powers have been given. The government is of the people. There is a Chief Minister of the people. I am with him in the Cabinet. And only people's representatives will take decisions in Maharashtra."

In a statement issued a day earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated, "No Ministerial level powers are vested in the Secretary except in quasi-judicial matters. All these powers are vested with the Minister, Chief Minister and Council of Ministers as before. So it is completely wrong to say that all the decision-making process is in the hands of the Secretary."

Maharashtra Cabinet expansion likely this week

Since the formation of the Shiv Sena-BJP government on June 30, only Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have been managing the affairs of the state. Sources told Republic TV that the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion will take place at 11 am on August 9. This assumes significance in the wake of Shinde's visit to the national capital where he attended the 7th meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog chaired by PM Modi. The expansion of the Cabinet will usher in much-needed stability for the government. Maharashtra can have a maximum of 43 Ministers including the CM.